


A Shift In Fate (A Mortal Instruments Fanfic)

by EricaMorty



Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: F/M, Fantasy, Fiction, Mortal instruments - Freeform, Orignal character - Freeform, Warlock - Freeform, shadowhunter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-09 02:57:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20846393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EricaMorty/pseuds/EricaMorty
Summary: Updates on Mondays.What do you do when you find out everything you know is now different? Adalea Faye was not the type to have had an easy life. Between being orphaned with her brother at an adolescent age, losing her husband just a year after her child, Marla, was born, and other troubles she faced growing through life, Its easy to tell why she has such a thick defensive wall. That is, until her best friend and sister in law, Kaitlyn took her to a warlocks party in Brooklyn where she met Mikal. A mysterious, yet comical warlock. Suddenly, everything about her past is slowly starting to unravel. What secrets will she soon discover about her mother, her past, and most importantly, herself.





	1. Character Pronunciations and Disclaimer!

Hello! Thank you for clicking on A Shift In Fate! I have been working on this on and off for quite some time now so i hope you enjoy it! I use some unconventional spelling for some of my characters so in order to help you guys out here are some pronunciations for the main characters! 

Adalea Faye - Add-uh-lay Fay

Mikal Lane - Micheal Lane

Kaitlyn Allard - Caitlin Al-erd

DISCLAIMER!

Hello again! Before you read, please be aware that this is a fan fiction LOOSELY based on the UNIVERSE of the Mortal Instuments book series. It is in no way meant to be canon to the original book or the show. I drew inspiration from the book however I went ahead and used my own ideas and modified accordingly. Thank you and please enjoy my story!


	2. The First Night

What do you do when your entire life gets flipped completely upside down and sideways? Do you just go with it? Hide from it? Or fight for it? Truth is, no body knows. And no body ever prepares you for it. Especially when it comes to who you are and when the people you love are involved. But you probably don't know what the hell I'm even talking about. So, I guess I should take you back to that first night. When I made a huge mistake. One that I, somehow, just don't regret. Because, at the end of the day, it all led to finding out who I really am.

It started as any other normal day would. I got up, got myself and my daughter dressed and ready for the day, made both of us breakfast. Afterwards, I got on my computer to do some research on my assigned mission. The life of a shadowhunter undercover can really get repetitive and boring sometimes. But you have to do what you have to do to get by in this world. Especially as a single mother.

While I'm working, I usually ask my best friend Kaitlyn to help me watch over my daughter. This was where I made my first mistake.

"Hey Adalea!" She said to me from the living room.

"Yes love?" I replied.

"I'm going out tonight to some party in Brooklyn. Want in?"

"Ummm, no. I think I'm good here."

"Oh, come on. You haven't gone out with me since Henry passed. Its been almost two years Addy. Just one night. Please? You need to get out and have fun." She persisted.

"Kaity, with all due respect I have more important things to worry about now that he's gone than going to some bar for a night. Besides, who's going to watch Marla? She's two. She can't just stay home by herself." I reminded her. Somedays It seems like she forgets her God daughter needs someone to take care of her where we aren't around.

"I already have an idea for that. There's an institute here in the city. I'm sure they'd love to watch her. Besides, Brooklyn isn't far. We can take the train out. Stay only a couple hours, and be back by midnight. Easy." She then proceeded to pick up and bring my daughter into my makeshift office, aka my kitchen.

"Pwease mommy? You need to have fun. Go out with aunty Kaity." She said mimicking the voice of a toddler while my daughter laughed along. "Look see? Even Marla thinks you should come with me. Besides, maybe I can get you a date or something. Or at least laid." She added.

"Do you have to be so crude in front of my impressionable two-year-old? Also, I have no interest in getting a 'date' or 'laid' any time soon. Sometimes I wonder if you forget I was married to your brother for three years. Look, if you want to go to the bar tonight go for it. But I'm staying home with my baby. Besides, there are plenty of bars near here. Why Brooklyn?" I asked while taking Marla from her arms.

"Who said anything about a bar?" She proceeded to sit down at my kitchen table and kick her feet up. "Don't tell anyone, but it's a downworlder party at some dudes apartment. Some kind of warlock is hosting it or something. He does it every weekend. I went a few weeks ago and it was amazing. I really think you'd have fun. Lots of eye candy there too." She added.

"Downworlders? A warlock's apartment? Kaitlyn. Are you insane? Do you know how much trouble that can get you in if the clave finds out? No. Out of the question. I'm definitely not going now."

"Oh, come on. Please? No one will know. You could use a night out and some drinks."

"Then why don't we just go to a normal bar? And again, What about Marla? I don't feel comfortable leaving her at some institute in the city that I've never been to." I explained.

"Ok. Fine. Stay home then. I'm going to go get thrashed and find a guy to show why they call us angels. Just a shame. Wish my best friend would come get drunk with me."

She was guilting me. I knew she was. And, truthfully, I kind of hated her for it whenever she did it. Mostly because I always fall for it.

"Ok, ok, fine. If you can find a RELIABLE sitter for your god daughter, then MAYBE I'll consider going out." I told her.

"Yes! Don't you worry! Give me about an hour! Then, we will leave at nine!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"And be back by midnight, right?" I reminded her.

"And be back by midnight. Yes. Promise."

Why did I say yes? What did I just get myself into, I thought to myself? Off she ran to go use the apartments phone and phone book to call sitters.

"Come on baby, Let's go get you some lunch while aunty Kait revels in the fact that she's completely lost her mind." I said to my daughter as I brought her to her high chair.

As I finished making my daughter some lunch, Kaitlyn came skipping in with the biggest smile on her face as if she just killed some kind of powerful demon by herself. I was hoping she didn't mean it when she said 'Give me an hour.", but its evident that she meant it. And also, that she found someone.

"Guess what I just found! And guess what we're doing tonight!" She nearly sang joyfully.

"Let me guess. You found a, hopefully reliable and safe, sitter, and we're going to go make horrible decisions that could get us imprisoned or banished tonight?" I asked sarcastically.

"Absolutely! Because bad decisions are the ones we always look back on fondly! But anyway, the sitters name is Ashlyn and she will be here at eight so you have time to interrogate her. And then? We're out of here to get schlepped." She gladfully proclaimed.

"I still don't feel right or comfortable about this. Or about leaving my daughter with a stranger." I explained.

Marla picked up her bowl and playfully started hitting the table with it. She wasn't really much for talking. Every pediatrician and even shadowhunter physicians tell me the same thing, that she will talk when she's ready. But she's almost three now.

"All done?" I asked her. She nodded her head excitedly and threw up her arms which was her way of asking to be let down. I let her down and no sooner did her feet hit the ground, did she start running off to play in that adorable way that toddlers do.

"She's walking and running a lot better now." Kaity said.

"Yeah, she is. But back to the point. You said we're taking the train into Brooklyn, right? If that's the case we should be there by roughly what? 8:45 ish?" I questioned.

"Yeah probably unless the train stalls. And hey. I always lay low when I go. That means we're going unarmed. No blades, no steles, none of that Shadowhunter nonsense. See? I know better than to get myself in harm's way."

"I never agreed to going unarmed. I have to at least take my stele. In case we need to make a quick getaway or need some sort of runes. If we get hurt, we'll need a way of healing ourselves on our 'Quick getaway'." It was almost as if I foreshadowed how this night was about to go.

"No. If someone sees you with a stele, our cover is blown and we're either thrown out, exposed, or attacked. It's not a good idea." She explained.

I let out an audible sigh. "Fine. No stele. Besides, my best weapons are my fists anyway." I said while starting to walk away.

"That's the spirit!" She proclaimed. How she always has so much energy at any point of any day is beyond me. Then again, she isn't a mother of a toddler. She actually sleeps once in a while.

The day was still pretty young. It was only about one in the afternoon so we decided to take Marla to the nearby playground to play for a while. It was the middle of fall and the leaves were still beautiful shades of copper and gold whilst they fluttered down from the trees. For some reason, my beautiful little monster had an obsession with playing in puddles and leaves. Lucky for her it had just rained the night before. Unlucky for me, that means I will have to give her another bath today.

Watching her play in her favorite park with not only the leaves, but the geese from the nearby pond made me heavily ponder what the hell I was doing agreeing to tonight. If it weren't for Kaitlyn, I would be all she has left. Especially since my husbands' parents pretty much erased us from their memories and lives after Henrys passing. If anything happens to me, that's a lot of responsibility to just throw onto her god mother. Going from a life loving party animal to the mother of a toddler can be a rough transition when you realize you can't go out four nights a week for a drink. Or when you realize you can't just bring random men home every single night without finding a sitter. I found myself asking again why I agreed to go out tonight knowing the risks of spending the late night with downworlders. One slip up and I could lose everything I have left. Just one little slip up.

"Hey girl. You okay? You're kind of spacing out over here." Kaitlyn came over and sat next to me.

"Yeah. I'm ok. Just contemplative is all. Tonight, is really not a good idea at all. One slip up and I can lose all I have left. Including her. And I don't think I'd be able to bear that if something went wrong." I explained.

"Hey. Listen. I won't let anything happen to you. Or her. She's not just my best friends' daughter, she's also my brother's daughter too. Besides, we've been going on missions together since we were old enough to go on our own. Have I ever let anything bad happen to you? You can trust me."

I just looked at her and smiled. If I had to be honest, she was right. I knew I could trust her. And I know she cares about Marla too much to ever let her lose another parent if she could avoid it.

"Maybe you're right Kaity. Maybe I really am just way too paranoid. Maybe I really should let myself have a night out once in a while."

"And maybe you really should get laid or at least start casually dating again once in a while. My brother would want you to be happy, even if it wasn't with him. He loved you. But he loved that smile of yours more. He never shut up about it. And I don't see it often enough anymore ever since...well...yeah."

"Let's just start with getting me out of the house once in a while. Besides, I don't think she needs a new father just yet." I explained

"listen miss thing, I'm not trying to find her a daddy. I'm trying to find you one." She joked.

"Kaity! Jeez girl. Why do you have to be so vulgar!" I couldn't help but laugh a lot. It felt nice to laugh again.

The day went on and we even went to our local pizza shack to get some dinner, and even stopped for some ice cream before we headed home to get ready. By the time we arrived home, my poor baby was completely pooped so I tucked her into her bed. I looked at the time and couldn't believe it was already seven o-clock. Well, at least the sitters' job will be easy. I gently took a baby wipe to her face frantically praying I wouldn't wake her up. How does one child get more food on herself than in her stomach? I'll never figure it out.

"I swear the two of you give me such baby fever. Its honestly crazy." I didn't even see Kaitlyn enter the room. "Maybe I should find myself a permanent piece tonight and get cracking on that before my biological clock times out." She chuckled.

"I know you're kidding but I extremely doubt you'll find other shadow hunters at this party. Unless you're looking to have that kid in jail. Besides, half breeds have very rough lives. And with your personality? Don't do that to that poor child." I laughed along with her.

"Well, come on. Let's go start getting ready. I'll turn the baby monitor on for you in case Marla needs you before we go." She said.

"I still think this isn't going to end well."

"Listen negative Nancy. We're going to have fun tonight. And with any luck, we'll both get some d..."

"Ok, ok. I get it." I stopped her. We all know where that statement would have gone if I didn't stop her. Right ladies?

It's been so long since I have had to get ready to go out to go drinking or dancing that I hardly remember what to wear, how to do my makeup, or anything. However, it's in someone's' apartment, right? Jeans and a t-shirt should be fine, I guess. As for my hair and makeup I just threw my, way too long, auburn hair up in a quick bun and just slapped on a smokey eye which somehow made me look paler than I already was. All this time I couldn't shake the thought and feeling that this wasn't going to go well. Am I just paranoid? I've always listened to my gut in the past. Maybe I should just let go for one night.

"Aaaaaddyyyyyy! You done yet hoe? Come on! I want to get a couple shots in before we go! Get that sexy ass down here!" She yelled. If she wakes my kid up I swear I'm going to kill her tonight.

I made my way down the stair to get my high heeled combat boots to complete my outfit. "I swear to god if my child woke up from you, I would have ki..."

"Oh no." She cut me off. "You're not going like that. You look too plain. You need that BDE in your outfit."

"BDE?" I reluctantly asked.

"Big...well...ok I'm going to be very blunt. Big dick energy. It means confidence. And in the process, it usually gets you that big d..."

"I get it! Stop! And what's wrong with my outfit? I think its 'sexy'" I told her.

"It is, but its mom sexy. It looks sexy for every day life, but its at the same time something a mom would wear out to what's basically club atmosphere. Come on I have something you can wear."

"But I am a mom Kaity. Do you forget this?"

"You're also a sexy twenty-six-year-old piece of ass and I want you to look it. Come up to my closet."

She then proceeded to pull out dress after dress after dress. Some a lot flashier than others. She held up two dresses and asked which I liked better. One was just a plain black spaghetti strap body con dress. The other? Oh boy. Another spaghetti strapped dress. But this one was practically covered in gold sequins with some black stripe around the waist. I assume it's there to make women look like they have a tinier waist.

"Do either of these cover my butt fully? Or is that not an option? Not to mention neither of these look like they would fit over my bust. It basically just feels like you want me to go in some saran wrap and a triscuit."

Kaity and I have never really had the same body type. She's a very slender woman and she is relatively tall. Standing at a whopping five foot ten. I on the other hand have always been a lot fuller and just a tad bit shorter standing at an average five foot five. And somehow, she still tries to pass her clothes off to me.

"Listen mama, some of us are part of the itty-bitty titty committee and proud. Besides, it's a body con. It stretches. It'll fit you. And you're shorter than me so it should cover your Kardashian ass just fine. Put it on."

"I don't have a Kardashians' butt. Just one that isn't non-existent." I said while taking the dress. I then ducked as she threw one of her bras at me in protest to my subtle insult.

This dress...Oh this dress. When I tell you, this dress was tight? I felt like I was shoving my hips into my child's stroller. I suddenly heard a frantic knocking at her door.

"Hey! Do you have it on yet? The sitter is going to be here soon! Show me!" She insisted. Well, here we go.

I stepped out of her room. The dress fit comfortably and surprisingly went just above my knees. I liked it. But it isn't something I would usually wear outside of the house. I decided to go into my room and grab a leather jacket I owned to spice my outfit up a bit. I went down the stairs and Kaitlyn turned to look at me while fixing her hair.

"Wow! Look at you! That dress screams 'Look at me! I'm shaped like a damn dumbbell and I embrace it!"

She was standing there fixing and observing the dress on me. She was in a skirt that was tinier than most I've ever seen, and a sequin loose fitting top with a cropped jacket on it. Her jet-black hair half way done up beautifully framing her heart shaped face. She kept her makeup pretty simple as opposed to mine, with a neutral eye and a bright red lip that complimented her warm caramel skin perfectly. She looked a lot better in club wear than I did. She looked amazing.

"And that is why I put a jacket over it...wait...a dumbbell? Of all things?"

"Well not all of us are shaped like one babe. Some of us are shaped like a carrot. So, embrace it for once will ya? You look incredible. Now you're ready." She checked her watch. "And just in time too. Ashlyn should be here any minute."

That's right. A sitter. A stranger you dont know, in my home, watching my child for a few hours. I get anxiety just thinking about it.

"Hey, by the way." She started. "I wanted to say something before the sitter gets here...I joke a lot about getting you laid but...if anything happens, or if your PTSD starts making an appearance, tell me. And I promise we can leave. Okay? I don't want to make you feel like you have to suffer through anything while I'm having fun." She explained.

"Thanks, Kaity. I appreciate that. Everyone needs a friend like you." I smiled nervously.

"Damn straight boo. I got you." She smiled back.

Just then there was a knock at the front door. Kaitlyn went to answer it and I followed behind her. We greeted Ashlyn with open arms and we went through the typical first-time baby-sitting questions. Where she was from, her experience, all the works. I had to make sure Marla would be okay while we were gone. She asked to meet her and say hello so we had to inform her she was asleep and should stay asleep through the night.

I felt a lot better about leaving my child with this sitter after speaking with her. After our talk I went up really quick to kiss my daughter goodnight. Leaving your child with a sitter is never easy. Even if Henry was still around, it wouldn't be easy.

I walked past my room on my way down and stopped looking at my stele sitting on my dresser. I'm taking it. Sorry Kaity. I went into my room and grabbed my stele and tucked it away into my boot. I could hear Kaity calling me from downstairs so we could catch our train. I ensured her I was coming and make my way back down and we said goodbye to the sitter. We left her our emergency contact numbers and we headed out to the train station.

The train to Brooklyn is exactly like you'd expect. New York has a lot of, well, colorful characters. When you look one way, there is someone sleeping on one of the benches. Look the other way, there's some hipster playing guitar for tips. And those two are probably the best of what you're going to see on the train.

I was still really nervous to go somewhere I know I could get in a lot of trouble for even considering. But I trust Kaitlyn. She knows her way around this town and she's been to one of these parties before. But I still have no idea what to expect. Downworlders aren't exactly the biggest fans of shadowhunters, but warlocks? They only associate with us when it has to do with business. Even then, why they usually help us I'll never know. What am I getting myself into?

"We're almost at our stop. Addy? Adalea." She pulled my attention away from my thoughts. "you good girl? You have been spacing out a lot lately." She mentioned.

"Yeah. Just nervous is all. We could get into a lot of trouble for this Kaitlyn."

"Relax. No one will know. I promise."

"Well, regardless, if something happens to me, watch Marla until I come back. If I come back." I asked her.

"Don't be dramatic. You'll be fine lovebug." The train came to a halt. "That's our stop. Let's get a taxi." She said.

We stepped out of the train station and Kaitlyn tried to flag down a taxi for us. Going out dressed like this on a Saturday night, it was obvious that we were to expect some whistles from the drunk bar scene boys at this hour. We just let it roll off our shoulders as we got into the taxi.

"How far is this place from the station?" I asked.

"About twenty minutes or so. Not even. We're not going far at all. Just keep your eyes peeled for a rather large condo." She explained.

I couldn't help but to keep looking at my phone, paranoid that the baby sitter would call and I would miss it. Maybe Kaity is right. I should just let go and have fun. I can always keep my phone in my bra so I feel it go off. I just need to relax and have a good time tonight.

I suddenly snapped back into it and heard Kaity telling the driver where to turn and where to drop us off. This is it. The driver stopped, we both chipped in for the cab fare and got out.

The building was just like most apartment buildings in this neighborhood. A gorgeous tall brick building with many lights on from people being in their apartments. The biggest difference was, at first, the top of the building looked normal. However, after some adjustment my eyes started seeing how different it actually was. The top of the building had large windows around, what I assumed was the living room of the condo. You could see the small amount of colorful lights from the floor level. But, Why would a warlock glamour their condo? Was it to hide these parties from the mundies? Was it to keep himself hidden? I couldn't help but wonder what a warlock would have to hide by hiding their entire apartment.

Kaity and I made our way inside and to the elevator. My nerves were at an all time high. This is really happening. We were secretly intruding into a downworlder party knowing we aren't supposed to be here.

"Hey." Kaity looked at me. "We'll be okay." She reassured me.

We made it up to the apartment. The condo was larger than I expected it to be and looked beautiful. It was hard to tell exactly what it looked like since it was a little bit dark. Around every corner there was someone with a drink in their hand laughing, talking, and having a great time. The atmosphere was very social, as if everyone knew each other. To the left of where we entered was a small in-home bar with a bartender taking care of guests. To our right, was a large very nicely decorated living room set-up with a lot of other people sitting and talking. It was all so comforting until I reminded myself that we're surrounded with groups of creatures who hate our very existence. Creatures ranging from the children of Lilith, to fairies and pixies. It was easy to even spot the few werewolves that were here. A few younger witches were making their way around the room as well. However, there was not a single Shadowhunter in sight, other than us. This made it even more crucial for us to blend in as much as possible as to avoid being discovered.

"Wow, this place is pretty empty tonight. But, then again." Kaity checked her watch. "it is only about nine forty five."

"This is empty? There's a good amount of people here tonight." I observed while we walked our way over to the bar.

"This place is usually pretty packed. A lot of familiar faces so far though." She turned to get the bartenders attention to order a couple of drinks. "Be careful what kind of drinks you order here. Fairy drinks have been known to have some...well...strange effects."

"Strange effects? Like what? Turning people into mice or something?" I asked

"Ladies, I would watch it with that offensive talk. Last thing you two beautiful specimens want is a fairy pissed off at you." The bartender chimed in. The bartender was a talk stocky man with dark chestnut hair and the most gorgeous honey brown eyes I've ever seen. It was clear he was a werewolf. He was in all black with his sleeves rolled up. His arms were covered in scars which made me wonder whether or not they were battle scars. Kaity seemed to be taken by him and his looks.

"Sorry. She doesn't come to these parties a lot. This is her first one." Kaity explained.

"Well then, first round is on me gorgeous. Welcome to the wrong side of the neighborhood. Have yourself a hell of a time. And as for you, welcome back Allison. Good to see you again" He said as he winked at Kaitlyn while walking away to help someone else.

"Allison? Is that what you told him?" I chuckled.

"Got to go by an alias here love. Keeps suspicion low. I recommend you pick one." She replied as we both threw back out first shot of the night.

I have no idea what kind of shot that was that she gave me, but it tasted sweet, like honey. Whatever kind of drink it was, it was shimmery and purple before we threw them back. As she waited to order two more, I took another steady look around to try and make a plan in case things go awry. There aren't many ways in and out of a condo and it seemed like most of the other rooms were shut and locked other than the restroom. Our only way out if something goes wrong is the way we came in. And by the way Kaity made it sound, it will be difficult to get to later.

"The music is really great tonight. Whoever the host is has really great taste." She said.

I hadn't even noticed the music, a playlist compiled of more dance kind of music, and some more heavy, almost punk songs as well. She was right. The host has great taste. But something about her statement caught me completely off guard.

"'Whoever the host is'? You've never seen the host!?" I inquired.

"Not me personally. But some of the others here know him really well. From what I've heard, he prefers to have his body guards watch over everyone while he kind of blends in secretly. Kind of like what we're doing tonight. That and I've also heard he tends to stay in that office over there and handle some business. Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky and meet him tonight."

"Let's hope not." I replied. "If anybody is going to see right through our little charade, it would be a warlock. They have a way of being able to read people. And they're usually right."

"Wait, how do you know that? I thought you've never met a warlock." She replied.

"My mom used to tell me stories. I also have very vague memories of her bringing me with her to a meeting with one once. Don't remember much about that visit though since I was only five."

"Wow." She said. "Your mom knew a lot of people, didn't she? Well, then again, your maiden name is pretty big in the community so I'm not surprised. Anyway, I'm going to socialize and dance. You coming? Or are you going to wallflower and observe?"

"I'm probably going to hug the wall for now until I'm comfortable. Maybe step out for a cigarette at some point. My anxiety is getting to me a little bit."

"Okay, just let me know when you step out so I know where you are." She started walking away and turned towards me. "And Addy? Loosen up. Have fun. It's just one night. Meet some people if you can."

"I'll think about it." I told her. She turned and walked towards the living room furniture.

The night went on, and Kaitlyn was a social butterfly. I tried to just keep to myself and hug a wall to avoid bringing attention to myself. I decided after roughly twenty minutes to sneak off to the bathroom to give the baby sitter a call. I made my way over and it seemed like I went unnoticed, but I couldn't shake the feeling that someone's gaze was locked on me. I locked the door behind me and dialed the number that Ashlyn gave me to contact her.

"Hi Mrs. Allard. How's your night so far? Did you ladies arrive safe?" I had to admit, her response was very professional.

"Yes, we did, and it's going well so far. thank you, Ashlyn. I'm just calling to check in and see how Marla is? Is she still asleep?" I asked her.

"Yes. She has been an absolute angel. And she has just the cutest little snore! Don't Worry Mrs. Allard. She's safe with me. I will call you immediately if we need anything." She replied, again, professionally.

"Ok, Thank you Ashlyn. I will call you when we are on our way home."

"Ok sounds great. Have a great night Mrs. Allard." She proceeded to hang up. Kaity Picked a wonderful baby sitter.

Being a widow, it feels so strange to still go by my husbands last name. But it feels wrong not to. I exited the restroom with a newfound sense of calmness after checking in on my child. I made my way back to the bar to order another drink. The man next to me Put a bill down on the bar top.

"Put it on my tab. A gorgeous lady like yourself shouldn't be paying for her own drinks in a place like this." He said as he outstretched his hand. "Caleb. Nice to meet you. And you are?"

Oh shoot. Kaitlyn told me to pick and alias and I completely forgot. I went with the first thing off the top of my head.

"Ashlyn." I replied as I shook his hand.

His hands were slender and pale. His face matched. Caleb had slicked back blonde hair, and Dark, almost red, eyes. It was clear he was a vampire. I felt a fear boil up in my chest very slightly but I chose to ignore it in order to avoid suspicion. I could see him looking me up and down as he slightly licked his lips.

"That's a gorgeous name, for an equally beautiful woman." He said as he kissed my hand. "So, what brings you to a place like this on a Saturday night? Surely a woman like yourself has other places she would rather be."

"I am here with a friend. She wanted to go out and talked me into coming with her. And you're right. I tried to talk her into some place closer." I told him. I need to remember to watch what I say so that I don't blow my cover.

"Well then I'm glad you have a friend like her. Because then I wouldn't have the pleasure of meeting such an exquisite lady. So, tell me. What's your story? I can't seem to figure you out." He inquired.

"I'd rather not say. I like to keep a certain level of anonymity when I go out." Just then I was handed my drink. "Well, I'd better go find my friend and see what she's up to. Thank you for the drink."

I started walking away but just then I felt something tug at my wrist and spin me around. Lo and behold, it was Caleb who just spun me into his arms. The one place I'd really rather not be given the circumstances.

"What's the rush beautiful? I see your friend right there, she's busy talking to someone and having a great time." He said while tightening his grip on my wrist. My heart started to race. Not Now. Please. This was the worst time for a panic attack.

"Look, just let me go. I told her I would find her after I got my drink."

"Ah, she can wait." Just then he moved his hands onto my hips and wrapped them around me. He tried to pull me in to kiss me and I managed to move my free hand up to his chest and push him away enough to stop him.

"Hey! Buddy, listen. I am not the girl to mess with okay? Please just let me go." At this point my PTSD was kicking in and so was a fight or flight instinct that I naturally gained from it.

"Oh, come on gorgeous, don't be so damn frigid." He proceeded to pull me in again. This time he grabbed my butt and to which I pulled my other wrist away, slapped him, and shoved him again, fully off of me this time. I noticed the bartender reaching his hand under the bar. Great. The bartender just called security.

"Listen! I did not give you permission to grab me like that. So kindly, please keep your hands off me." I demanded.

"You little bitch! You can't just lead people on like that. You're lucky I don't rip your throat out right here!" He proclaimed.

At this point he was drawing some minor attention to himself since he had gotten loud. Including the very large, burly man, standing behind him. The burly man, who I assumed was the bodyguard Kaity told me about, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him.

"Hey man! You know the number one rule here. Respect. The lady said no. So, no need to threaten her. Come on man, you're out of here." He proceeded to carry him off and out the door.

The bartender turned to look at me while Kaity made her way over towards me. "You alright love? That guy's always an asshole. How he keeps getting in here I'll never know." The bartender asked

"Yeah I'm alright. Thanks." I informed him.

"Are you sure?" Asked Kaity, clearly worried about my PTSD.

"Yeah I'm alright like the bartender said, that guy was just an asshole."

"...Okay. If we need to go just tell me." She said concerned.

"I will. Go have fun." I told her.

She cautiously went back to what she was doing. I hardly realized I spilled my whole drink on my outfit. The bartender handed me some napkins. Suddenly I saw what looked like a handkerchief being handed to me. I turned around.

"Well that was quite a spectacle wasn't it?" A strange man, with beautiful golden eyes, who I had not seen behind me previously, said to me. I looked over to see an, admittedly, attractive man who was tall enough to make me look short in heels, with eyes that stood out prominently, even in the dark.

"Look, not to be rude, but I'm not looking to be hit on after that." I said while refusing the handkerchief.

"And, not to be rude, but that was not my intention miss. My intention was simply to give you something to help clean yourself off. No woman should be treated so brashly." He insisted.

I hesitated but accepted the piece of fabric. "Thank you. Sorry for what I said. I'm just frazzled."

"It's alright, I wouldn't expect anyone to be in the right frame of mind after an asshole like that ruins their night. And for that I apologize." He held out his hand as if waiting for mine. "And who do I owe the pleasure of this apology? Forgive me if I'm wrong but I've never seen you here before."

I cautiously and reluctantly gave him my hand. "Ashlyn. And who do I owe the pleasure of offering me something to dry myself off with?"

He gently lifted my hand to his face while also slightly bowing as he kissed my knuckles. I'd be lying if I said I didn't blush at least a little bit. But luckily it was dark so hopefully he didn't notice.

"Lane. Mikal Lane. Enchanté." He said. He had a certain charm to him that, to be honest, was very difficult to resist. "Well, I must be off. Enjoy the rest of your night, Ashlyn." He let go of my hand and started to walk away.

Then it clicked. "Wait!" I caught up with him as he turned around. "Your handkerchief. I forgot to return it." I handed it to him but he refused it.

"Keep it. A souvenir, if you will." He said as he winked at me, smiled, and proceeded to go back to walking away.

I was still so confused and, frankly, a little enchanted, from that entire situation and I just made my way to the nearest wall to relax and process what just happened. Who was that? And how did he just seem to appear out of nowhere? Like...Magic? Geez. Get yourself together girl. He's just another downworlder guy. In the middle of my random contemplating, seemingly out of nowhere, here comes Kaity.

"Hey, who was that? He seemed really charming. And you miss thing, seemed extremely enchanted by him. Is my girl bringing someone home tonight?" She chuckled as she nudged me.

"No, definitely not. I'm smarter than getting myself in trouble by sleeping with a downworlder. But, if I had to be honest, he was very polite...and, admittedly, pretty charming. He offered me this to help clean up, we spoke a bit, and he left." I said while showing her the handkerchief.

"Huh. Sounds like prince charming if you ask me." She said chuckling again. It was clear she was a few drinks in.

"Never in a million years love. Hey, I'm a little frazzled. I'm going to step outside for a second to breath okay?" I informed her.

"Okay. Come find me when you come back and we can start getting out of here. You're soaked and I don't want you to get sick. Although, to be honest, you look like you're probably soaked in more than one way." She said laughing.

"You're disgusting. But yes. Sounds great. Us getting out of here I mean." I hadn't realized I was still blushing.

By this point in the night, the condo was pretty packed so I had to squeeze and weasel my way through the floor just to get to the elevator. I still felt a kind of gaze on me as if I was being watched, but this time it felt a lot less threatening and a lot more cautious. As if someone was watching over me as opposed to hunting me. This gaze felt a lot more concerned rather than predatory.

Eventually I got to the elevator and made my way downstairs to step outside still feeling the gaze on me, but choosing to ignore it. While in the elevator, looking for my cigarettes, I had a lot of thoughts racing through my head. Who was that? No, better yet, what was that? It was like my there was a lump in my chest and I couldn't breathe. I was lost for words yet somehow still managed to form complete sentences. And those eyes. I have seen golden eyes before, but never quite like that. Just, what the hell happened back there?

I finally got outside and found my lighter. I lighted my cigarette and took a few puffs before I noticed a dark figure standing in the corner of this alley way. I decided it was a good time to put out my cigarette and head back inside to find Kaitlyn. I went for the door when suddenly someone closed it with their arm and proceeded to block it. It was that vampire from the bar. Two other men surrounded me as well. I assumed they were friends of his. It was in this moment, to be frank, I knew I was screwed.

"Well, well, look who's here boys. That frigid bitch that got me kicked out of the party." He said while circling around me.

I waited patently for him to be behind me and took my opportunity to reach for the door as quickly as I could. Somehow, I forgot about vampires having inhuman speed. He beat me to it and grabbed my wrist. This time he grabbed me a lot harder than he did in the bar. I felt a pop in my arm, followed by a sharp crippling pain that made me let out a short, almost yelp from pain. I immediately knew something was either broken or dislocated.

"Aww, that's cute. She thought she could pull a fast one on you Caleb." The shorter of the two other men stated.

"Hah! Yeah. You were right Caleb, she's pretty cute. But she'd be cuter if she wasn't such a prude. Or if she didn't have those scars all over her legs and arms." The other man said as he pushed the sleeves of my leather jacket up.

Shit. Every rune a Shadowhunter makes on themselves leaves a scar after it fades. One of two things was about to happen. Either the fight of my life, unarmed against three vampires, Or I was about to be killed. Both options, stemming from being discovered.

"Well then." Stated Caleb. "So, I get kicked out, but shadowhunters are allowed to run around and make a muck? Does that seem fair to you boys?" He asked as both his goons shook their heads.

Each of his goons both took one of my arms and held me in place. I struggled to get out, but it was no use, they were too strong. And I had no way of reaching my boot to grab my stele and make a strength rune. Nor would it do me much use right now.

Caleb let go of my wrist and backed up a little bit.

"I don't know about you boys, but I've heard amazing things about angel blood. Shall we find out for ourselves?" They both nodded and licked their lips, clearly hungry. "Sounds good to me, But, since she led me on, I get first taste."

He started walking closer to me again. Now's my chance. Either die here or try and fight. I decided to take my chance. I flung both my feet up, launching my heel upwards towards Caleb's face. I caught him off guard and hit him square in the nose, hopefully breaking it, but unlikely. As my feet went back down, I swiped out the one vampires' foot knocking him down as he let go of my arm. The third man, with some sort of rush of adrenaline, I was able to use the arm he had a grip on and flip him onto his back, being now freed, I had the opportunity to grab my stele. However, I knew, in this moment, that I wouldn't have the time to draw a rune for excess strength, so I didn't bother. I knew I was left with just my fists. I took a quick look around, the third man hit the ground hard and was out cold. The other two were still standing. And I was prepared to fight.

"Wow. Feisty little demon killer. I like it." The taller of the two goons lunged towards me and I somehow managed to dive out of the way. I, luckily found a pole against the brick wall, and managed to get it off the wall, immediately turning to see him lunging at me again. I proceeded to smack him as hard as I was able to with the pole knocking him clear across the alley. He hit the wall pretty hard, once again knocking him out cold from a head injury. I was able to see the blood coming from the back of his head.

I turned around to face Caleb, the man I rejected in the bar, and looked him dead in the face.

"What? You didn't think I would go down without a fight, did you? Come on. One on one. 'bitch'" I said, clearly mocking him.

He started laughing. "Do you really think a shadow hunter is anything without their runes and weapons? Without those, you guys are just like humans with MMA training. Nothing special. This will be easy."

"Big talk coming from a man who watched me take down two of his goons by myself." I replied. I swung the pipe at him, to which he caught it and ripped it from me, shoving me. I stumbled back for a second and then inevitably fell on my back. I was clearly hurt and I could feel that I busted my elbow wide open. But I'll be damned if I let a vampire see me cry.

"One." He said.

"What?"

"One. You took out, one, of my so called 'goons'." He explained.

Next thing I knew. The first man I thought I knocked out picked me up and grabbed me in a way of which I couldn't move. Caleb threw the pipe to the other side of the alleyway and slowly started walking towards me.

"Hold her head." Caleb said. To which his goon yanked my head to the side by my hair, of which has fallen out of its bun by now. "Now what was I saying? Oh yeah. I've never had angel blood before. Guess there's a first time for everything. But it is a shame that some of it had to be wasted. Close your eyes slut. I'm going to make sure this hurts."

The next thing I felt was two sharp injections into my neck. Almost as if someone injected me with two giant needles. It hurt. I let out a whimper as an excruciating pain mixed with a burning I have never felt before in my life ran through my entire body. I was able to feel the poison from the venom course through me as I felt the blood being drained. This was it. I was a goner. I knew in that moment I was done for. That I would never see my child, my friends, or even what little family I have left again. All because of a stupid mistake when I knew I wasn't supposed to be here. My consciousness was slowly fading as i let a few tears slip. I'm sorry Marla.

Out of nowhere, I was dropped and lightly heard the sound of running feet. I could barely hear anything, and my vision was more than blurry. Everything was slipping and I could feel my heart slowing. Everything hurt. But at the same time, I almost couldn't feel it. My elbow and my neck were still bleeding out and I slowly started closing my eyes. However, the last thing I saw before descending into the dark was a blurry shadow of a large burly figure. The unidentified figure was looking down at me and crouched down to my level before starting to pick me up. Just then, everything went black.


	3. A Proposition

The next few days had gone by surprisingly fast. I was supposed to be going back to Mikals home later today, and I was getting more and more nervous each day. Kaitlyn has been in and out of the apartment a lot the past couple of days. When I managed to ask her about it, she admitted to me that she has been seeing someone. It wasn't out of the ordinary for her. She had a habit of seeing people, mostly downworlders, for a couple of weeks, and then never calling them again. I can only wonder what species the man happened to be this time. How she never gets caught by the clave doing this, I'll never know.

Since that night, I have visited the physician at the local institute to have my wrist fixed so that I could have my cast removed. I had planned on letting it heal naturally, but the cast was getting in the way. I had been sitting in my kitchen coloring with my daughter when my new phone had made a noise. I looked to see what it was. It was my first email from Mikal. I decided to wait until I gave Marla a nap to read it.

Once one in the afternoon rolled around, I put my daughter down for her nap. I had almost forgotten about the email at this point and I started to clean my home. I received another notification, from Kaity, telling me she was on her way home. The text notification reminded me about the email. I went and got my computer to read it. Once opened the email had said,

"Good Morning Adalea,

First, let me apologize for taking so long to reach

out to you. I am writing to confirm our appointment for tonight.

As I am sure he has already informed you, Bruce will be at your

apartment tomorrow night at seven to pick you up and bring you

back to my apartment.

Best regards,

Mikal Lane."

Even the way he typed was very professional and elegant. He mentioned he would contact me about our appointment, but I had secretly been hoping he would forget. Looks like I have no option but to go. I decided to reply right away.

"Good Afternoon Mikal,

Thank you for contacting me. I apologize for taking

so long to reply. I was taking care of some personal matters. I am

still coming tonight for our appointment. Yes, Bruce has already

told me about picking me up. I will see you then.

I have also Received a new phone. For easier contact, you can reach

me at xxx-xxx-xxxx.

Sincerely,

Adalea Faye."

I kept my answer as short and simple as I could. I also debated not leaving my phone number, however, I figured it would be better to leave it just in case he needs to cancel our appointment for any reason. As I hit send, Kaitlyn walked in the door. She had on her usual fitness leggings that she wears when she goes for a run. She also had a water bottle with her, implying even further that she went to exercise.

"How was your work out?" I asked her as I closed my computer.

"It was awesome, I got a good couple of miles in today. What are you up to?" She asked acknowledging my laptop.

"Mikal emailed me to confirm our appointment tonight. So, I was just replying." I replied

"So, you're actually doing this?" She asked.

"Yeah. To be fair, we don't know exactly what he wants. Besides, I figured, if he wants anything that is illegal for us, I can refuse. I just hope I won't have to. Like everyone has been saying, nobody wants to be on a warlocks' bad side." I explained.

"Yeah, you're right. That would definitely be the wrong decision." She added. She started heading towards the bathroom to go shower, but she stopped and turned around. "Hey Addy? I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, No I'm not going to try to seduce a warlock." I replied.

"That's not what I was going to ask. Surprisingly. But hey, get it girl. I won't tell." She joked.

"Then what's up?" I asked curiously.

"Well, it's just that... I know I joke about getting you dates a lot but...It's been almost two years...Have you actually considered dating again? I miss Henry too but..." She started.

"I...don't like to think about it...After he died, I told myself I wouldn't let myself love again...I know thats not fair to myself but...I just...I don't think I could handle losing someone I love like that again...And I don't think I could put my child through that again." I told her. It was only just recently that I could talk about this without crying.

"I know. And I can't imagine how it must have felt. But...maybe it would help distract you? You know, meet someone knew, learn about each other all over again. I just think there are some great guys out there who you'd like." She said.

"I know. I just don't think I'm ready...I don't know if or when I ever will be." I explained. At this point I wasn't even looking at her anymore.

"Well, you know what they say. It happens when you least expect it. Usually with who you least expect it with too. It just sort of hits you one day. Like a freight train. Besides...I'm sorry to bring it up but...Marla...She deserves to see her mom happy. And it would be beneficial for her to see a healthy relationship while growing up." She explained.

"I admit you're right. But again, I just don't know if I'll ever be ready." I reiterated.

"...Can I tell you something that I swore to my brother I would never ever tell you?" She asked while sitting down with me.

"I guess? What's up?" I asked.

"Henry once told me, that if anything were to happen to him...to step in and make sure you still have that, and I quote, smile that brings the sun into his life every day. Even if it meant it wasn't for or with him." She told me. I couldn't help but to just look at her. I felt the tears slowly well up in my eyes, but I quickly stopped them.

"I'll be fine. I'll get there one day. Just...not yet." I replied. I stood up from my chair. "I'm going to go get dressed and ready for my appointment tonight." I said as I started walking.

"Addy, just...please think about what I said. I really genuinely do think it could help...I just want to see you happy again." She said.

I went up to my room closing my door behind me. I admit I don't talk about Henry enough. The truth is, I hate it. I hate talking about him. I miss him, and I loved him. But its just a reminder that I lost someone who made everything better. Its just a reminder that I'm a twenty-six-year-old widow. It's a reminder that he's gone. And It's something no widow ever likes to think about. I still make sure to tell stories to my daughter about her father and what a great shadowhunter he was. I always will. But that doesn't make it any easier.

On the other hand, I can't help but wonder if she is right. I went and laid in my bed just staring up at my ceiling letting the few tears I had in me fall down my cheeks. She said maybe dating would help me forgive and forget. Was she right? Would it help me heal? And what she said about my daughter, I couldn't deny that she was right. Up until tonight I had considered myself still pretty content with how my life is. But was I happy? Do I even know anymore? I always tell myself that one day I'll be able to date again, but that I just don't want to. Am I just lying to myself? This is all way too much to take in just a few hours before I'm expected to meet Bruce outside.

I decided to not dwell on that conversation for too long and get ready while my daughter was still asleep. I went into my drawers and searched through them for a bit. I eventually decided on a sleeveless black turtleneck sweater, a pain of dark blue skinny jeans, and some knee high black casual boots. I also figured it would be a good idea to grab some of my blades and my stele just in case I need to be armed. After I finished giving each blade a name, I tucked them into a harness that I would normally strap to my thigh. Since I was not leaving my house until seven, I decided to leave the harness on my dresser for now. I was going to throw my wavy auburn hair up in a bun like the first time Mikal and I met, but I decided I will just leave it down and bring some hair ties and bobby pins with me in case I change my mind. I had hardly realized how long my hair has gotten these past couple of months. My hair, when down reached just above my hips. My husbands' favorite length. It was definitely time for a cut.

The next few hours were spent as per usual. Plenty of toddler snuggles, dinner, a movie, and a lot of playtime. While we were watching a movie, of Marla's choice, my phone started ringing. I looked at the clock and realized it was about six-thirty. I looked at my phone and all it read was "Private Number". Between that and the time, I already knew who it was. I took Marla off my lap and went to answer the phone. The conversation was just as you would expect. Mikal was only calling me to let me know that Bruce was on his way now to come pick me up. It wasn't a lengthy conversation. I went and relaxed for a few minutes and then proceeded to kiss Marla on her forehead and said goodbye to both her and Kaitlyn.

I went and waited outside after collecting my purse and my harness. I decided while I was outside, I would take the nervousness off and have only half a cigarette. While lighting up and taking a couple of puffs, I couldn't help but wonder for the hundredth time this week what he could possibly want to talk about. A million different possibilities went through my head. I got half way through my cigarette and put it out. Almost like clockwork, as soon as I stomped it out, Bruce pulled up in the same car he had dropped me off in a few weeks ago.

As per last time. Bruce stepped out of the car and opened my door for me.

"Hey beautiful, great to see you again. You look a lot better than out last meeting." He said jokingly.

"Thanks. I healed my wounds with runes after I got home. And my wrist I had healed from a shadowhunter physician." I explained.

"Well, good. I'm glad you're feeling better." He said.

We proceeded to get in the car and head towards the apartment. It was later than it had been last time, so the ride didn't have quite as much traffic. We didn't really talk quite as much as we did last time. He looked over slightly at one point and realizes I was a little nervous.

"Hey. Don't be so nervous. I know what this is about. Don't worry. He won't try to kill you or anything. I said this last time but, he likes you. He wouldn't hurt you. Not unless you were trying to hurt him secretly or something. If anything, he probably considers you a trusted friend by now. Which means you probably have his protection if and when you need it." He reassured me.

"I just have no idea why he would want me back. And for the record, no, I am not on some secret mission to kill a warlock. I wouldn't want that kind of negative fame. It would be like being the new Valentine. And I'm not ready for that." I replied.

He chuckled. "I don't think anyone could be as bad as him. But good to know you don't have any hidden agendas." He said.

We finished the rest of the car ride in silence. We also wound up getting there a little faster than it took us to get to my apartment. We took the elevator up, as per usual, and walked right into the apartment. Not surprisingly, it was exactly as I had remembered it. Spacious, Very well decorated, and an overall great atmosphere. The only difference was, i had just noticed the bar was now a kitchen island with a fully functional kitchen behind it. If I hadn't been so nervous, I may have been almost happy to be back here.

"I'm going to go let the boss know you're here. Make yourself comfortable." Bruce said as he went towards the one room I hadn't been in yet. I assumed it was his boss's bedroom.

While he went and knocked on the door, I went and took a seat on the couch. I hadn't had a chance yet to sit on the couches in the living room. They were very comfortable. They were soft, yet still retained a certain firmness. The cushions almost curve to the body in a way that makes them feel very luxurious and expensive. The coffee table was the same beautifully carved cherry oak wood as in the office. It tied the rest of the room together in a very beautiful way.

Bruce walked over with a tray that had a kettle of, what I assume is tea, on it with a couple of cups. He placed it on the coffee table as he spoke.

"The boss will be out soon. Help yourself to some tea if you want some." He said as he walked away.

I accepted his offer and poured myself a cup of tea. I was still very nervous, so it was nice to have something calm my nerves. I sat back against the back of the couch trying to relax myself a bit before this conversation starts. From the aroma alone, I could tell it was definitely a bergamot tea. Bergamot has always been one of my favorites in taste and aroma. For myself, it also tends to be very calming. It's almost as if the two of them were able to read my mind when putting out my favorite tea.

"I'm glad to see you like bergamot. Its not everyone's cup of tea." Mikal had said while closing the door to his room. I couldn't help but to laugh at his poorly made pun as I turned my head to see him walking over. I was a complete sucker for puns. It's one of my favorite types of humor.

"Bergamot tea is actually my favorite. I like the smell." I stated as he sat down on the other couch against the wall to my left, crossing his legs and stretching out his arms along the top. "And forgive me but, that pun was awful." I said with a chuckle.

"And yet you still laughed." He said with a slight smile. "Right, anyway. Shall we get to the point? Since I'm sure you're wondering why you were invited back."

"Yes, please." I replied as I put my cup down on the table. "Why am I here? What's going on?" I asked.

"Well, as I'm sure you know, since I know shadowhunters study the likes of downworlders, warlocks do everything through business. Whether that means payments or favors in exchange, it doesn't matter. Either way we work on a very 'make it even' basis. I scratch your back, you scratch mine', kind of thing. Do you understand what I mean?" He asked.

"Yes. You guys do everything as business. So, what does that have to do with me?"

"Well you may remember at the end of your last visit," He started as he leaned forward, resting his arms on his now uncrossed legs. things seemed very casual this time. "I made it a point to tell you I didn't have to save you. And you also offered to repay me, to which I told you I intend to tell you how." He explained. "Well, I'm about to explain how. I need a job done. And the abilities of a shadowhunter could be beneficial to me in this job."

"You're very aware I could get into a lot of trouble for doing favors for, and basically working for a warlock right?" I inquired.

"Yes. I am very well versed in shadowhunter law. However, I could easily make sure no one would know you were doing one job for me. It isn't hard for a warlock to make sure people keep their mouths shut and not say a word to the clave."

"Ok then? So then explain. What is this job? And why can't you have one of your guards do it?" I asked.

"Well, you see, you shadowhunters with your obsession with runes, you possess uncanny abilities. One, in particular, of which I need for this mission. You see, a Mundie sought me out." He started explaining.

"A Mundie?" I interrupted. "Mundies aren't supposed to know that their mythical creatures that they read about in books are real. So, how did a Mundie find out about you?"

"She said she found me through a friend of a friend. It still didn't make sense, but she begged me to hear her out as I was having her escorted out of my apartment. Said she was in desperate need of a 'magical beings assistance'. Her words, not mine. So, I listened. Her request was simple. Well, as simple as a teenager's request could possibly be. However, I told her that her request was expensive. For expensive requests I require half the payment upfront, of which she provided. However, here is where the problem lies. I still haven't received the other half of her payment." He explained.

"So where do I fit into your battle with some teenage Mundie?" I asked. I already saw where this was going but I was hoping I would be wrong.

"You shadowhunters have the ability to make yourself unseen to the mundane. This is where I was going when I mentioned your abilities. I need a recon mission out of you. Find out why she hasn't paid." He started explaining.

"No." I interrupted again. "Absolutely not. I do not get involved with mundies and their screw ups. Just because you did, doesn't mean I should. I can get in a ton of trouble with this."

"I already told you, I can easily make sure you don't. I just need you to observe her for a day or two to see what you can find out, and report back to me. I can take care of the rest." He stated.

"I'll ask again, why can't your men do it?" I asked.

"They would be seen. I also don't have repo men. I have bodyguards. So, I enlist help from other species in exchange for something they want quite frequently." He explained.

"With all due respect Mikal, I can't do this. I don't interfere with mundies. Besides, I have too much on the line to risk by possibly getting myself in trouble for doing so. I..." I started.

"Have a child at home. I know. As I said twice now, I can make sure you're both protected." He stated.

"I'm sorry, what? How do you know about my daughter? And what the hell else do you know about me that you aren't telling me?" I asked.

"Us warlocks have many connections Adalea. Thus, we have a way of knowing things. Do this job for me, And I will explain to you everything I know and how I know it." He propositioned.

"So, let me get this straight. You want me to get involved in your mistake of making a deal with a Mundie, and you stalked me?" I stood up. "I'm leaving. I'm not doing this job for you."

"The way I see it, Miss Faye, is that you don't have much option in this." He stood up and walked to stand right in front of me. "You owe a life debt. If you don't do this job, I would just find another way for you to pay me back. Thus, another job. Besides, it's a fairly simple job. And I swear, I will reveal my secrets as soon as you report back to me." He explained once more.

"Well, excuse me for not trusting someone who just openly admitted to stalking me." I said snarkily.

"Admitted to researching you, not stalking. Again, I'll explain after this job is done." He said.

"...So, if I do this, you tell me what you know and how you know it? And I don't have to come back here again?" I asked.

"If you choose not to come back, sure. Although, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy your company at least a little bit. And yes. I will answer all your questions in time if you do this one job for me." He replied.

I took a second to think on it. I would be risking a lot by helping a warlock. But for some reason, I couldn't find myself able to say no.

"I will heavily regret this, but fine. Just one job though. That's it. No surprises. Got it Lane?" I held my hand out for a handshake.

"Got it. No funny business. Promise." He said as he grabbed my hand. We shook on it.

"So, when and where do I have to go?" I asked.

"Here are the details I have collected from her." He said as he handed me a couple of papers. They had her photo, school, and current residence on them.

"And she just gave you this information?" I asked suspiciously. Seems like researching people is his specialty.

"I told her, similar to you, Adalea, That I needed a way to contact her in case things go awry. I also asked for her place of residency so that Bruce over there could bring her home. I can assure you, no stalking goes on here Miss Faye. Regardless of what you seem to think." He reassured.

"Ok, fine. I don't know why, but I trust you on this. If I find out you're lying though, you wont like me very much anymore." I stated.

He seemed to look me up and down with a cocky smile on his face. "I find that incredibly hard to believe beautiful. You're pretty likable. Even in personality too." He said. I couldn't help but to blush a little. What is happening to me lately? "Anyway, now that I have made you significantly blush once more, I recommend you go either tomorrow or Friday if you're able. The sooner your recon, the sooner your job is over. Does that sound good to you?" He asked.

"...Deal." I agreed.

"See? I told you your next visit would be quick and simple. That was all we needed to discuss for now." He stated.

"Oh no, we still have plenty to discuss now. Like how and why you stalk me." I said, admittedly still angry by the whole thing. He placed a couple fingers under my chin.

"You're cute when your angry. But prettier when you're laughing and smiling." He said. I shook my head out of his hand.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't flirt with me Mr. Lane." I stated.

"Mikal. Since we're on a first name basis now. And besides, I just call things how I see them. I am a very honest man Adalea." He said with a slight wink. He backed up out of my way. "You're welcome to leave now if you still wish to. But of course, the offer to stay is open." He implied.

He had gotten a lot less serious since we last met. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like this more humorous side of him. God, snap out of it, girl. Think logically.

"As much as I'm sure others flock to take such an offer, I'm smart enough to turn it down. Goodnight Mikal. I will see you in a couple of days with a report." I said as I started walking to the door.

"That's fair. However, I've been told I'm pretty fun to spend time with." He said. God why are warlocks so cocky?

I chose to ignore his comment and walked straight for the door walking out and stepping into the elevator. Bruce walked into the elevator with me. I assumed it was to take me home.

"I know last time I said he seemed to like you, but damn, he was very forward this time. How you didn't fall for that like some of the women, and even some men in the past amazes me." Bruce said.

"Because I'm not dumb enough to put my life and family on the line for a smooth-talking warlock. Regardless how much flattering he tries to do." I admitted.

"Well, get used to it if you two start spending more time around each other. He's a very straight forward man. And when he isn't upset, he does like to have a great sense of humor. He always says what's on his mind." He explained.

"Great." I said a tad bit sarcastically.

We made it downstairs and went straight for the car. On the car ride home, I was looking over the papers Mikal gave me to try and get some information on this girl. She was only seventeen years old, blonde hair, blue eyes. He made sure to write down her description for me, so I knew exactly what to look out for. He description said to look for a small rose tattoo on her left wrist. She should hopefully be easy to find. The only important thing the documents left out was her name. But I guess, since its only a recon mission, I don't really need it.

We soon pulled up to my apartment and I exited the car thanking Bruce for the ride. I went inside and went straight upstairs. I went in and saw both Kaitlyn and my daughter passed out on the couch. I assume they were waiting up for me. I decided to pick up Marla and move her to her bed. Kaitlyn, however, I grabbed her an extra blanket and placed it over here. I looked at the clock and saw it was only nine o'clock at night. I expected my daughter to be asleep by now, but for Kaitlyn, this was early.

I was rather wide away, despite the decaffeinated tea. With my current string of energy, I decided to get some of the household chores down. In the matter of about two hours, I was able to wash the dishes, sweep the floor, clean the table and counter tops, and get all of Marla's toys quietly put away. All without waking anyone up. I went up to my room after to try and get some sleep.

Unfortunately, sleep was not possible for me that night. My head was rushing with thoughts about this job I need to do. There were so many risks. I know he said he could easily make sure my family and I are protected, but was that true? Am I putting my trust into the wrong man? Why did I decide to put my trust into this mission anyway? It isn't like me to give my trust to someone so liberally. Especially after how my childhood, especially my adolescence, wound up. However, I didn't want to think of my childhood right now. In fact, I try not to ever think about it. I shouldn't have accepted this mission. I'm putting everything on the line by doing so. Not to mention, I know Kaity will have questions when I ask her to watch my daughter again.

I also still had many questions about the situation that led to this recon mission anyway. Who is this girl? How does she know about warlocks? What else does she know? If she knows about warlocks, surely, she knows it could be dangerous to not provide the payment that is agreed on. She is so young as well. What could she possibly have wanted from a warlock? I should have asked more questions when I was at Mikals apartment discussing all of this.

I rolled onto my side in my bed to see a photo of Henry and I from our wedding. He looked stunning in that photo. Like a perfectly drawn character in a painting. His beautiful raven black hair combed back and out of his face, his stubble following the contours of his chiseled jaw. His amazing dark brown eyes. I remember that moment better than almost any other. In the photo, we were staring into each other's eyes. The most genuine smile I have ever had in my life had been plastered all over my face. I was happy. We both were. That was the second-best day of my life. The first being when Marla was born. The photo of her on my chest immediately after being born had been right next to my wedding photo. I looked horrible, but with her finally in my arms, I didn't have a care in the world. I wish I could go back to those two days.

I let out a sigh. "Oh Henry, what did I get myself into? You'd know what to do here. You always did." I said to myself.

Most nights I had to put his photo away so I could be able to sleep. Tonight, was unfortunately one of those nights. Just looking at his face was bringing a rush of emotions over me. I had gotten so used to bottling things up and being the tough girl who can get through everything. After a while you tend to get tired of feeling sorry for yourself and getting hurt throughout your entire life. You learn to just stop letting yourself feel natural things such as pain, grief, and even fear. It's sad to say, I know, but after a while you just start trying to make yourself numb. After a while I finally drifted off to sleep around three in the morning.

Sleep doesn't tend to last long when you have a toddler. Around seven in the morning, I was woken up by the gentle taps of tiny hands on my leg. I slowly and groggily opened my eyes to see Marla by my bedside rubbing her belly.

"Mama? Pancakes?" She said to me as she moved to rubbing her eyes instead. It was the first time in the past few months she spoke. Ever since her father passed, she rarely ever speaks.

"Good morning baby. Sure thing." I said getting myself up from bed. "Great job using your words baby girl. Come on, let's go get you some pancakes." I said taking her hand and going downstairs with her.

We went downstairs to see Kaity still asleep on the couch. I decided to not wake her up. Apparently, Marla had other plans as she ran over to the couch and started tapping her leg too. When a toddler is awake, everyone needs to be.

"Pssssss! Auntie Kait! Wake up! Pancake!" She said excitedly. No sooner did she start talking, did Kaity pop her head right up.

"Huh? What? Marla? You're talking! Great job! And what's this I hear about pancakes?" She asked as she looked over the couch towards me.

I had been leaning against the arch of our kitchen with a smile on my face. It was great to see Marla talking again. I hope its permanent this time.

"Yeah. It's a pancake morning according to the princess." I replied as I turned to go start making some pancakes.

I was the type to listen to music while I cooked so I couldn't help myself. I asked my digital assistant to play some songs from my favorite band. Luckily, the speaker started with my daughter's favorite song from the same band that I used to always sing to her as a baby and its kind of just stuck with her. Watching her dance around the kitchen to her favorite song always has a way of warming my heart and making me forget any reason I was ever upset. Something about those genuine and pure moments of motherhood just always brings me peace even in the greatest storm.

I finished making the pancakes and we all sat down together to eat. Almost immediately, Marla was trying to eat with her hands, so I reminded her to use her fork. I soon after remembered about my mission and how I had to be at the girls' high school at three. It was still early, but I still needed to ask Kaitlyn to watch the baby.

"Hey Kait?" I asked cautiously.

"What's up? Also, how was your meeting last night, what did they want?" She replied.

"It went fine. He just wanted to talk. By the way, can you watch Marla for a couple hours around two-thirty? I have to do some recon." I explained.

"I don't remember the clave asking us to do recon today. This doesn't have to do with that meeting does it? You could get in trouble for doing favors for a warlock." She said.

"...Ok, fine. Yes, it's a recon mission for the warlock. But this is it. Besides, he told me he can make sure I won't get in trouble. Even if they find out, I think they would understand considering he saved my life. And after this, he even said I don't have to come back unless I want to." I explained.

"Yeah, true. The clave knows they work by making deals. And let me ask you. Do you want to go back? You seemed pretty smitten at that party." She added.

"Well, you're wrong. And no, I don't plan on going back except to finish this recon mission. I'm hoping I can report back to him tonight and be done with all of this." I explained.

"Sounds good. But I won't stop you if you wanted to sleep..." She started as I covered my daughters' ears, predicting what she was about to say.

"There is a toddler at breakfast this morning. Hush. And no, I won't be sleeping with a warlock. I'm not you." I said uncovering Marla's ears.

"To be fair, never been with a warlock. Just a few werewolves and vampires. So, you would have me one-upped if you changed your mind. Besides, that's different from dating them, so by loophole it isn't illegal." She explained.

"Doesn't make it ok." I added. Marla showed me her clean plate. "Go wash your hands baby. Leave your plate." I told her as she climbed down from her chair. She ran off.

"Now that she's gone, back to what I was saying. Just bone him and get it over with." She said.

"You know why we can't do that. Besides, Warlocks are cocky and arrogant. Not my type." I added.

"Ok, fine. I'll stop mentioning it. But I still think dating, or at least hooking up would help distract you and help ease you into dating again." She started.

"Kaitlyn. I love you, but please, just stop. You're worse than my brother sometimes. I have no interest in illegally dating or hooking up with a warlock. Or anyone for that matter." I explained.

"Well, if you can give him my number then." She said laughing. "But seriously, after this job you're done? You guys can at least be friends. That's not illegal." She said.

"You're right, it isn't. But can you imagine the heart attack my brother would have? No thanks. Otherwise, can I be honest?" I asked.

"Always. You like him, don't you?" She said accusingly.

"No. Not in that sense at least. But, during that last visit, he made me laugh. It felt kind of good to laugh again. I'd probably consider staying friends after this if I didn't want my brother to blow a gasket." I confessed.

"Hey, if you guys are friends, he can't really be mad. I say go for it. If this dude is making you feel less crappy about yourself, then maybe it's worth having a new friend. And maybe that friendship can get you laid." She said.

"Ugh. Sometimes its so hard to be serious with you." I said.

"Ok, ok. Fine seriously. What does this new friend of yours have you doing?" She asked.

"Just some recon on a girl who sought him out but hasn't payed him. He said he wants to know why and that he can handle the rest." I explained.

"Oh, that's not so bad. I thought by recon you meant he was going to have you track down some sort of mafia boss or something." She stated.

"Oh god no. I wouldn't have agreed. But regardless, I'll be gone from two-thirty until probably dinner time. Maybe later. It depends really." I admitted.

"Depends on?" She asked.

"How much information I get, how long my conversation with Mikal is, and..." I started.

"Oh ho! You two are on a first name basis now?" She joked.

"I mean, I guess. Look, that doesn't matter. After this job I'm done. No more visits with a warlock unless we need something for a mission. And that goes for both of us. No more warlock parties for you." I stated.

"What? Why me?"

"Because I wouldn't be doing this job at all if you didn't drag me to Brooklyn." I reminded her.

"...Ok, fair point. Well, I'm going to go shower and go to the gym now then so I can be back on time for you to leave." She said.

She proceeded to go upstairs as I finished cleaning up the living room. Afterward I went into the living room to watch and play with Marla. She was telling me some wild story about a pixie and her pet unicorn traveling through the "mystic forest". She was so full of words today. Seemingly out of nowhere. The only person she had been speaking with this past year had been her speech therapist in Idris. I couldn't help but wonder what changed to make her want to talk to Kaitlyn and myself again. I guess in a way her speech therapist was right. Kids talk when they're ready to. However, I was not prepared for her next words.

"When daddy come home, I need tell him too mama!" She proudly proclaimed.

Her statement caught me completely off guard. When she stopped talking, she never really asked about her father. I guess it just never occurred to me to tell her he wasn't coming home. Truthfully, it is my fault. I hated talking about it. Besides, how do you look into a toddler's eyes and tell her that her father isn't coming home? I guess I was just thankful that she didn't ask. It meant I didn't have to talk about it with someone who looks so much like him. But it never means I shouldn't have. I should have seen this day coming. I should have told her sooner.

"Baby. We need to have a talk. About daddy." I said as I pulled her onto my lap. She, again, didn't say anything and just looked at me. "Daddy...isn't coming home. It's going to be just us and Aunty Kait for a while." I admitted whilst fighting the tears. I refused to cry in front of her.

"Where go?" She asked. Her speech wasn't perfect, but she was trying. It was progress.

"Daddy...well, do you remember me telling you about the angels? And how we come from them? All the stories mommy and aunty Kait told you?" I asked. She nodded at me.

"Well," I continued. "Daddy...went to live with the angels." I explained.

"Why? Angels up there. We here." She explained.

I couldn't help but chuckled a little bit. "Yeah. You're right. But the angels needed him more than we do. So, he had to go. And...he won't be back for a very long time." I told her.

"Oh." Was all she had to say at first. After a moment she spoke again. "Mommy? I miss daddy. Why he left?" She asked.

"I'll explain when your older baby. It's...complicated." I admitted.

"Compimated?" She asked.

I chuckled again. "Yeah. Compimated. Now go play." I told her as I put her down.

It had been so long since I've spoken about, or even acknowledged, Henry's death. Especially when it comes to Marla. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't easier this time. Something about a toddler's smile and laughter makes certain things more bearable. Talking to Marla about her father did make me realize something though. Maybe it really was time to accept what had happened. Move forward from it instead of hiding from it or dwelling on it. Kaity, and even my brother, have been telling me to let myself feel and to allow myself to get past it. I never quite understood what they meant, considering I thought I had. But, after trying to explain what happened to our child, I'm starting to understand.

The next few hours of the day seemed to go by so fast. I had thought multiple times about calling Mikal and telling him I wasn't doing this job. But the quicker I do this, the sooner I can be done with all of this and start focusing on what's important. Besides, the sooner this is over, the less risk I have of the clave finding out that I'm working for a warlock. Kaitlyn had been back from the gym by this point. I was upstairs getting myself dressed and ready. As per usual for a shadowhunter, I had dawned all black and strapped my weapons to me on my leg. I was struggling to pin my hair up this time, so I decided to shove it back into a French braid instead.

I walked over to the small box on my dresser to get my stele. It had been so long since I've had to use runes. Luckily, this one was going to be easy. I picked my mothers stele up out of its box. I felt awful using my shadowhunter equipment to do work for a downworlder, but I knew I had no way around it. I sat down onto my bed and took a deep breath, pressing the steel against the inside of my wrist. I was immediately met with the familiar sting of the stele burning black lines into my skin. I drew out three little circles overlapping each other. A rune that provides shadowhunters with the ability to not be seen by mundanes. I figured I wouldn't need them, but I also added a rune for strength and angelic power, just for precaution. You can never be too sure that something won't go wrong.

I tucked my steele into my harness with my blades, threw on my faux leather jacket, and headed downstairs. Kaity was watching a movie with Marla while they were snuggled up on the couch. Kaity must have heard me come down the stairs because she looked back towards me.

"Wow! Look at you. Been a while since I've seen you dressed like you're ready to kick some butt. Not to mention, your hair is down. Its different." She pointed out.

"I was struggling with the bun so I threw it back. Well, I'm heading out. Hopefully I won't be too late. I'm getting tired of not being home for dinner with my baby." I said while walking over and kissing Marla on the head.

"Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Said Kaity.

"That's not much to be honest." I replied. She tossed a pillow at me and I ducked laughing a little bit.

I left my apartment and started walking to the nearest subway station. The downside of being invisible to mundies is that I can't hail a taxi. However, one of the benefits is sneaking onto the subway for free. Kaitlyn does it frequently, and now I understand why. The high school I had to make my way to was in upper Manhattan. Upper areas of bad neighborhoods seem to be the running theme of my life lately.

The train pulled up to my stop and I made my way off. It was quite a walk to get to the high school I needed to get to. I finally arrived at the school. It was a beautiful red brick building with two floors and average sized windows looking into the classrooms and hallways. I checked the time on my phone and realized I had luckily made it just in time. The school was fenced off so there was no possible way I would get super close. However, lucky for me, there were plenty of trees near the fence. I picked one near the entrance of the school and leaned against it.

I still had time before the school got out for the day, so I decided to refresh myself on the person I would be looking for. The girl gave him the name Maria. But something tells me she probably wasn't honest. I still couldn't believe a warlock would even consider doing work for a Mundie. Even if she told him she could pay, any downworlder or shadowhunter knows better than to assume mundies are reliable. Then again, he is trusting me, a shadowhunter, as well to do this job for him. Guess its all reliant on luck. As I was reviewing the file, I heard the bell ring. School was officially out. I tucked the file away and kept my eyes and ears peeled for this young girl.

Teenagers started pouring out of the doors. One thing I didn't miss about my teenage years was cliques and friend groups. They were extremely easy to identify as well. The jocks were all grouped up laughing, pushing each other playfully, and, one in particular, stole his friends backpack and ran off. They were soon followed by the cheerleaders who had been gossiping and giggling amongst themselves. Right after them were the shy "nerds", who of which were identifiable by their modern-day pop culture merchandise such as t-shirts, keychains, and other memorabilia. However, the girl, Maria, was still nowhere to be seen. As teenagers started to continue leaving the school, I was about to pack up and try again tomorrow. I then saw one more girl make her way out after everyone else. It was her. Soon after, she was being chased by another girl.

"Natasha! Wait up!" The girl yelled. 'Maria' turned around in response. I was right. Maria wasn't her real name.

"How did that...uh...thing I told you about go?" Said the other girl. It was clear there two were friends. I picked my bag up and moved closer to the fence leaning against it so that I could hear better.

Natasha looked around her, seemingly checking if anyone was listening.

"Abby. I told you. Don't ask me in public. People will think I'm crazy if they heard I went to talk to some kind of wizard or whatever it was you called it." She said clearly annoyed.

"There's no one around Natasha. You're fine. Did he help you and your mom?" Abby asked.

"Yeah. He did. Thankfully too. She was getting worse. The doctor said it was a miracle she pulled out from this." Natasha explained. Doctors? Mikal never explained to me what this girl needed help with. Was her mother sick?

"That's great! See? I was right! How much did he ask for?" Her friend asked. The started walking away from the school. I carefully trailed behind them to listen more.

"A lot. A grand to be specific. He let me pay what I could upfront as some kind of a security deposit. But...I don't know how I'm going to pay the rest. I made the mistake of telling him my dad is wealthy." She said.

"Ouch. How much do you owe?" Her friend inquired.

"Half. I don't know where I'm going to get that kind of..." She started. I stepped on a twig and they heard me. Both of them turned around. I stood perfectly still as to not make any noise, knowing they still couldn't see me.

"Let's finish this back at your place Nat." Her friend stated.

"That sounds like a good idea." Natasha said. They both turned around and continued walking, this time silent.

Hopefully I had enough information to give to Mikal, so I decided to not follow any further. Luckily, I hadn't traveled too far away from the school while following those girls. I made my way back to the school, and from there started traveling back to the train station. I still felt incredibly wrong following these two girls while listening in on an obviously private conversation. I shook it off and decided to send Mikal a text message.

"I just found the girl. I found out why she hasn't paid yet. Do you want the information now? Or would you prefer me to meet you somewhere to discuss this?" I sent him. Almost immediately he replied.

"Meet me at my office. I am away at this very moment, so just wait when you arrive." He stated. Damn. I really wanted to avoid seeing him again.

"Okay. In that case, I will see you when you get there. I also have a lot of questions." I explained.

"I am willing to answer most of your questions have once we meet. But for now, thank you for doing this task for me Adalea." He replied. I stopped replying after this. But this conversation was not over.

I eventually made it to the subway. My rune was still active at this point, so I just decided to sneak onto the train again. This time, I had to go all the way to Brooklyn, which I knew would take me almost an hour. However, I was thankful. Because I had a ton of thoughts racing through my head. I had so many questions about this job I just did. But, more importantly, I still had a lot of thoughts about my conversation with Marla.

Admittedly, that brought up a lot more questions than this whole situation ever could. I've never had an easy time talking about Henry. Even telling his daughter about him was difficult for me. But something about talking to her about it made it easier. But I couldn't help but wonder why. Was it because I was talking to her? Am I just finally healing? Most importantly, am I a bad mother for never really talking to her about what actually happened to him? Whether or not I was, I certainly felt like one. I at least owe it to her to know what happened to her dad.

While thinking about all of this, I couldn't help but to let my mind wander. Suddenly my mind was flooded of all of the best, and some of the worst, memories of my husband and I. I felt the familiar sting of tears building up in my eyes and the feeling of a lump in my throat. I tried so hard to push back the tears. Crying was a sign of weakness. And I can't be weak. I just can't. But I couldn't hold it anymore. I felt the first tear roll down my cheek, and suddenly I couldn't stop myself from letting the rest out. I just sat there, letting myself cry. Letting myself feel. I can't remember the last time I allowed myself to just feel. I normally have an easy time suppressing everything, but these last couple of weeks have been incredibly overwhelming and confusing. Part of me could not believe I let myself have this meltdown. But, part of me felt relieved. Relieved to have finally let it all out.

Being lost in my own mind and emotions, I almost missed my stop. Had I really been lost in my head for an hour? I wiped off my face as best as I could and got off at my stop. I was still slightly red and puffy in the face, and still had a small case of the sniffles. I started walking in the direction of Mikals apartment, but I was met with a familiar voice.

"Miss Faye!" It was Bruce. "Over here!" I turned around and walked over to the car. He had the door already held open for me and I got right in, keeping my head down. As he shut the door, I turned to face out the window. I didn't want anyone to know I had just been crying. Mostly, because I still felt a little ridiculous for doing so. He went over to his side, got in, and started driving.

"Hey, I'm sorry for asking, but are you alright? You're oddly quiet tonight." He asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Thank you for asking." I said. I sniffled a little bit.

"Are you sick?" He asked.

"No. I feel fine." I explained. He looked over at me for a brief moment, seeing my reflection in the tinted window.

"I Know this isn't any of my business, but have you been crying? What's wrong?" There it was. The question I had been trying so hard to avoid. The question that singlehandedly has a way of making anyone who is upset, start crying again. I let a couple of tears slip before I wiped my face quickly and suppressed my tears, successfully this time.

"It's nothing. I'm fine. Look, I'm sorry but I really don't want to talk about it." I explained.

"Sorry. Well, whatever it is, I'm a great listener. If you want to ever talk about it..." He started.

"I don't." I said, a little annoyed by this point.

"Ok. I'll let it go. I'm sorry for pushing you." He said. After spending the rest of the ride in silence, we arrived at Mikals' apartment. He went up the elevator with me.

"Is Mikal back yet?" I asked.

"Not quite yet." He said as he checked his watch. "I'd say about another ten or fifteen minutes."

"Ok. Perfect. I just want to wash my face before he gets here." I explained.

"Understood. Want me to get you a drink? Water, tea, coffee?" He asked as he unlocked the door and let me in.

"No that's ok. Thank you." I replied.

"When you're done washing your face, feel free to wait in his office. He unlocked it this time." Bruce explained.

"Ok. Thanks Bruce." I replied. I made my way to the bathroom.

I quickly splashed some warm water on my face to hopefully help bring down the puffiness and redness in my face. The swelling had already somewhat gone down by the time we got here, but not fully. The warm water helped bring it down a little more, but it was still a little bit obvious. After washing my face, I decided to pull my hair out of its braid and let it hang down. You never realize how long your hair has grown when you tend to keep it pulled up.

I exited the restroom and made my way over to the office where Mikal and I had our first meeting. I never thought I would be back in this room after that first night. It almost felt wrong to be here. In fact, I knew it was wrong. But it also felt familiar, which tends to be pretty comforting. I was looking through the book shelves that lined the wall to my left. I didn't really have a chance to see what kind of books he owns last time, considering the situation. The books were as I expected. Most of the books he owned were educational or books about magic. It was pretty typical for warlocks to own a lot of these books. He also owned a few books on lore for all different kinds of species. The shelves also surprisingly contained some older literature from some of my favorite authors authors such as Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe. I was so lost in my fascination for his small but admirable library I didn't even hear the door open behind me.

"I see you have an interest in books?" Asked a familiar voice.

I turned around to see Mikal walking into the office closing the door behind him. He seemed to be dressed more casually today. He had on a black button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and just a normal pair of darkly colored jeans. I had to admit, he looked just as nice in casual attire as he did in dress clothes. Snap out of it Adalea. You're hear for a reason, not to ogle.

"I do actually. You learn to like books when you study as much as we do. But I'm sure you already knew that. By the way, I love Shakespeare. And Poe." I admitted.

"I do love a person with good taste in literature. By the way, I've never seen your hair down before. It looks better this way." He said. I looked over about to reply and had realized he was now right next to me with his eyes fixed on me.

"Uhm. Thanks. It was giving me trouble, so I didn't even bother keeping it up." I admitted. I brushed a strand of hair out of my face while looking back at the bookshelf trying to hide the fact that even I knew I was blushing. God, what's wrong with me?

"Well, like I said, it looks better like that. Anyway, have a seat." He said walking behind his desk and sitting down. I took a subtle deep breath and sat in one of the opposite chairs.

"So, what did you find out from the Mundie girl?" He asked, getting right to the point.

"She can't afford to pay the rest. That's why she hasn't paid yet. She said something to her friend about the cost being more than she thought." I explained.

He let out a very slight sigh. "That is what I was afraid of. It's also why I asked for half up front." He admitted.

"I thought that was just something any warlock or witch did." I said.

"I don't normally. But the mundane can sometimes be unreliable, especially at her age." He admitted.

"Speaking of which. I have questions. Several." I admitted sternly.

"Well, then tell me. What's on your mind."

"First things first, why are you helping mundies? They aren't even supposed to know that we exist. It could cause chaos and mass hysteria." I explained.

"She was in a tough spot. Admittedly, her mother was sick." He started to explain. I immediately felt a little bad considering I had lost my mother. "Initially I turned her away. Told her I don't help humans. But she persisted. And frankly, when someone tells you their mother is dying you can't help but to feel bad for the person. So, I offered to help."

"So why charge her a grand? I know saving a life can be expensive since it's a hassle, but its hardly reasonable to think a teenage girl has a grand to give to a warlock." I explained, still confused.

"She said her family was wealthy and that she could pay. What you don't know was that I offered to do it free of charge. But, again, she persisted. So, I gave her my usual cost." He explained.

"To be honest, I'm surprised a mundie didn't jump at the opportunity to have a job done for free." I admitted.

"You and I both. Now, considering you did this job for me, I believe we had an agreement." He stated.

"We did. Information for information. I have questions that need answers. Things that still have me both confused and concerned." I explained.

"Well," He started, leaning back in his chair. "I'm all yours. Ask away." He continued with another wink.

"First thing I need to know, how do you know about my daughter? You said warlocks have their sources. But I don't like the possible idea of you spying on me or stalking me Mr. Lane." I explained. I had to know if mine and Marla's safety was at risk. He paused and thought for a second.

"Tell you what, I have a proposition for you." He started. I cut in before he could continue.

"Forgive me but, what is with you warlocks having to make a proposition out of every little thing?" I asked, clearly losing my patience. He chuckled slightly before answering me.

"Because, Adalea. Us warlocks know how to get exactly what we want." He explained with an admittedly suggestive smirk. I couldn't help but to roll my eyes slightly.

"What is the deal this time?" I asked, prepared to say no.

"You can ask me any questions you want, and ill answer all of them to the best of me ability." He started.

"And what do you get out of this?" I cut in.

"You didn't let me finish. I will answer any of your questions that I can, if you have dinner with me. One night. That is all. Just the two of us, and I will be completely transparent." He explained.

"No. Absolutely not. I told myself, and my roommate, that after this job I'd be done fraternizing with warlocks. Besides, this has gone on long enough." I stated firmly.

"Well then, I guess you don't want the answer to your question that badly Ms. Faye. This is my offer. Take it or leave it." He stated. I stood up from my chair.

"Leave it. I refuse to sink myself further into any of this and risk getting banished or worse from the clave for one date." I explained turning to walk towards the door.

"To be fair Adalea, I never once said the word date. That was you. However, if that is what you want, I'd be more than happy to oblige." He said.

I stopped in my tracks, feeling my cheeks get warmer and my heart slightly race. I could feel him continue to smirk out of amusement, knowing he was right. And he was. He never asked me to go on a date with him. So why in the hell did I just blurt that out? I need to clear my head and collect my thoughts.

"Listen," I started, without turning around. "This isn't worth the risk. However you knew about my daughter, unless you want to tell me now, then you can keep it to yourself. But if i found out her safety is at risk, there will be consequences. I have to go. Have a good night Mr. Lane. And good luck with the Mundie." I said as I started walking toward the door again, opening it.

"If you change your mind Ms. Faye, You know how to contact me. Until then." He stated.

I didn't even humor him by saying anything else, and I just headed straight for the front door. Bruce followed me out, assumingly to drive me home. There had been an awkward silence as we traveled down the elevator while I was thinking over what just happened.

What did just happen up there? Once again, why did that blurt out of my mouth? He never used the word date and for some reason, that was immediately what my mind processed. Was my subconscious trying to tell me something? No, that's ridiculous.

"Snap out of it, Addy. You know better." I whispered to myself.

"Know better than what?" Bruce asked.

"Nothing. Just, thinking to myself. Don't worry about it." I stated.

We arrived at the first floor and went to the car, silence taking over once more. What the hell has been happening to me lately? This isn't who I am. I know better than to do jobs for downworlders, or even think for a second about dating them. I'm usually a very cautious person. But something about being around him makes me lose myself. I knew I should never trust a warlock, but for some reason I did. It's like I let my inhibitions run a muck whenever he's around. Besides, what in the hell would Henry, or even my brother think if they knew I have been hanging out with and doing favors for a warlock? Regardless of what's been happening to me, one thing is certain, if I don't cut ties now, it'll probably only get worse from here.

In the middle of my confusion and my contemplating, Bruce had broken the silence.

"Hey, are you alright? You were crying earlier, and now you're very quiet. I know you said not to ask but I couldn't help it." He asked kindly.

"Yeah. I'm ok. The past few weeks have just been a lot to process is all. My mind is all over the place." I admitted.

"We've all been there. Do you want to talk about it? We're stuck in traffic so its going to be a long drive." He explained. I knew if I was going to get answers, he would be my best bet since he seems to spend the most time with Mikal.

"I don't know if you know this or not, but how did Mikal know I have a child?" I asked.

"You have a child? I had no idea. I couldn't tell you to be honest. How old?" He asked, trying to strike conversation.

"She'll be three in about a month. I have another question." I admitted.

"Ask away. If he trusts you, then so do I." he said.

"Why does he keep trying to invite me back? All I want is to cut ties, so I don't get in trouble, but he keeps dragging this out." I asked.

"Well, to be honest, that's a loaded question." He explained.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, it's no secret I spend the most time with him out of anyone as his guard. Ever since you woke up in his apartment, hell, even since he spoke to you at the party, he has seemed pretty, I guess you can say, enamored by you. I can't explain it. But he's been different. Like I said the first time I drove you home, he seems to trust you. I'd even go as far as to say he seems to like you. And I don't mean in the same way as the many one night stands he's brought home. He seems like he enjoys your company. So, if I had to guess, he is probably just looking for reasons to keep you coming around." He admitted.

"Well, thanks for clearing that up Bruce, but I think this will be the last time I'm around. I can't risk getting in trouble with the clave just because a warlock has some sort of crush on me." I explained.

"That's a shame. I like your company too. You have a great personality for a shadowhunter. Most of you that we encounter are pretty rude or overly defensive." He stated.

"Thanks. I think." I replied.

"Anyway, we're here. Get in safe ok? And Adalea?" He started.

"Yeah?" I said as I started exiting the car.

"I know you said you won't be around anymore, but I would reconsider it. To be honest, you both seem like you could use a friend. It's difficult to find people you trust in this screwed up world." He said. He was right, but it isn't worth the risk.

"Thanks Bruce, but my minds made up. I'll see you around. Get back safe." I said closing the door behind me. I went straight up to my apartment. I had a lot to talk about with Kaitlyn.no clue what kind of Pandoras box these last couple of weeks had just opened.


End file.
